The Greatest Gift of All
by PurpleHime
Summary: It's Christmas Eve in Alice Academy and Natsume still has yet to buy a gift for his girlfriend, Mikan. What will he get her? Read to find out. Reviews make authors happy! Merry Christmas, everyone!


Natsume Hyuuga cursed under his breath as he walked briskly around the central town shops. Leave it to him to procrastinate on Christmas Eve. He had already gotten gifts for You-chan and Ruka, almost the only two people that actually mattered to him. The only one he had left to shop for was the one that mattered the most. Mikan Sakura, his girlfriend for the last 3 years.

It's not as if he hadn't given her gift any thought at all. Actually, Mikan's gift was the one that he thought of the most. But whenever the flame caster thought of a nice gift for her, he somehow couldn't bring himself to get it. He'd arrive at central town, kick up the gift he had been thinking of, but when he came to paying for it, he always ended up freezing when he is about ten feet away from the counter. With everything he picked out he never failed to find something wrong with it. Whether it was too cheap, too small, too big, or just didn't match Mikan at all, he was never satisfied.

He cursed himself. He cursed himself for not being able to buy Mikan something decent. He cursed himself for being stupid, knowing that he will end up having to wait in a long line of last minute Christmas shoppers. Even worse than the two combined, he cursed himself for worrying his girlfriend all that week and for not being with her at that very moment.

He ran a frustrated hand through his dark raven hair as he entered a random shop. There is nothing he wouldn't do to make Mikan happy. The time they had spent together the last three years were the best years of his life. He had confessed to the girl at the tender age of twelve, with a helpful push from Ruka, who had confessed to Hotaru a year before. Natsume now realized that the more time he spent with his girlfriend, the more attached and possessive he grew of her. Heck, he was still possessive of her.

Letting guys walk withen a ten feet radius from her was a huge accomplishment. Even now though, he won't hesitate to burn anyone who stared for more than two minutes and because of that, poor Koko hasn't even tried to read her mind in over two years. As Natsume browsed around, scanning the shops for something decent for Mikan, he didn't even realize that someone had approached him from behind.

"Natsume," Ruka Nogi spoke quietly. He watched in amusement as his best friend froze and slowly turned to face him. He stared at the animal pheromone with a bored expression on his face.

"Ruka," the fire caster acknowledged the blonde. Then he looked down at the ground. "What are you doing here?" Ruka took a step forward.

"Hotaru sent me," Ruka replied as if it were obvious. "Mikan is worried about you." Natsume flinched, guilt slowly making its way through his body. He muttered some colorful curses under his breath before facing his friend again.

"I still need to get Polka a freaking gift," he told Ruka, slightly embarrassed. He put a hand behind his head and groaned. Ruka tilted his head in confusion, grinning slightly.

"Natsume," he spoke calmly. "You know that Mikan will like almost anything you get her, right?" Natsume just shrugged his shoulders in defeat as a reply.

"I know," he answered slowly. "But I can't freaking find anything!" Ruka just shook his head in amusement.

"Just choose one of the gifts that you already planned on buying her," he told the flame caster, crossing his arms over his chest. "There had to have been one decent thing you could get her." Natsume just shook his head. Ruka stared at him in dismay.

"Natsume," Ruka began incredulously. "You've been here everyday for the past week! How can you have no idea what to get her?" Natsume narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Oh and I'm sure that you have the perfect gift picked out for your girlfriend," he challenged mockingly.

"I already picked out a decent gift for Hotaru," Ruka announced proudly. "Over a week ago." Natsume just rolled his eyes at this.

"Well good for you," he mumbled sarcastically. "So what did you get her?" Ruka just grinned, enjoying the annoyed look on Natsume's face.

"I got her an amethyst necklace," he told Natsume, obviously full of himself at the moment. "It matches her eyes. I think she'll like it. Why don't you just get Mikan a necklace too?" Natsume shook his head.

"No way," he replied quickly. "As accident prone as that idiot is, she'll probably get it caught on something and choke herself." Ruka just laughed at that.

"How about a ring then?" Ruka asked suddenly. Natsume just shrugged.

"No thanks," he finally answered. "I'll wait until we get married or something."

"A bracelet?" Natsume gave his best friend a bored look.

"I thought you could've been a little more creative, Ruka," Natsume said half teasing, half serious. "Let's move away from jewelry. It's been done too much." Ruka stroked his bunny as he thought.

"How about you get her a pet?" Ruka asked innocently. "She likes animals, right?" Natsume made a sound of disgust.

"It's not like I have anything against them," Natsume said quickly, noting Ruka's look. "It's just that if I get her a pet, I don't think I'll ever get to be with her alone ever again and besides, I don't think she'd take very good care of it anyway. She'd probably kill it." Ruka suddenly looked horrified.

"Maybe not a real animal," Ruka spoke, thinking out loud. "How about a stuffed animal?" Natsume shook his head.

"Again, done way too much." Ruka sighed, rolling his eyes. He started to walk off, leaving Natsume to stare at his back.

"I give up Natsume," Ruka finally said, looking back. "Let's just walk around. If we're lucky, you may find something that you like." Natsume shrugged, following after his best friend.

"Natsume, just get it already!" Ruka exclaimed, shoving his best friend toward the cashier. The two had been wandering central town for over an hour and were pretty much where they had started. With nothing. Natsume was clutching a pretty white dress that was covered in cherry blossoms and Ruka was trying to get him to buy it.

"I changed my mind!" Natsume yelled. "I don't like it. It's ugly!" Ruka groaned.

"You just said it was nice two seconds ago!" Ruka retorted, growing impatient with each passing minute that they spent together. "Just pick something! I was supposed to bring you back to the academy over an hour ago! Hotaru is going to murder me!"

"Well if it isn't Natsume Hyuuga," a voice snickered from behind the two boys. They turned swiftly and stared into the dark green eyes of Kiiro Hazumi. Kiiro Hazumi was the leader of the Mikan Sakura Fan Club. Natsume clearly hated them for one reason and one reason only. They were after Mikan Sakura. Natsume glared at the freak in front of him and subconsciously made a small flame appear in his palm.

"Get lost, Hazumi," Natsume ordered darkly. "I'm not in the mood for you right now." Hazumi pretended to look hurt.

"You're so cold Hyuuga, I only wanted to speak with you," the brown haired boy told him mockingly. His green eyes then landed on the dress in Natsume's arms. "And that wouldn't be for Mikan-sama, would it?" Natsume's maroon eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"What's it to you?" he spat out, getting ready to attack this guy. The smirk on the fan boy's face was pissing him off.

"I just thought that I'd give you a heads up," Hazumi began. "That we of the Mikan Sakura Fan Club have already gotten Mikan-sama her Christmas gifts and have thought very carefully about what to get her. I'm sure that she'll love them." What pissed Natsume off more than the stupid kid in front of him was that they all knew that Mikan was taken. And even with that fact in mind, they had been trying to hook up with her for the past four years. Ruka noticed the murderous look in Natsume's crimson eyes and decided to step forward. He put a hand on the flame caster's arm.

"Don't Natsume, we don't have time for this now," Ruka told him calmly. He turned to look at Hazumi, his own blue eyes narrowing slightly. "Don't you have somewhere else to be, Hazumi?" Hazumi pretended to be surprised as he looked down at his watch.

"Oh yes that's right," he spoke quickly. "I should be heading back to the academy. Mkan-sama is probably waiting to receive her gifts from her fan club. See you around, Hyuuga." With that he turned and left, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"I'm going to murder him," Natsume muttered, his eyes filling up with rage. Ruka could only watch as the dress in his best friend's arms burst into flames. He sighed.

"I guess we'll be paying for that dress after all."

Ruka and Natsume walked around Central Town in silence. Natsume walked slightly ahead of Ruka, his bangs covering his eyes. Once in a while Ruka would hear him curse Hazumi quietly.

"Natsume," Ruka finally broke the silence. "We should head back soon. They'll be wondering where we are." Natsume froze and turned to face him.

"Polka can wait a little while longer," Natsume stated firmly. "I have to get her something." Ruka just shrugged, deciding that it couldn't be helped. He followed Natsume as he began to enter another shop.

"Natsume!" The sudden voice caused both boys to stop in their tracks. Natsume turned swiftly and his eyes widened at what he saw.

There, running toward him as if it were the end of the world was Mikan Sakura herself. Her auburn hair was put down today. She wore a red skirt with a fancy white blouse, and was wearing a red pull on sweater over that. Her red Santa hat fell off her head as she dove at her boyfriend. He nearly fell backwards as the girl made contact with his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Hotaru Imai was close behind them, sending a bunch of death glares at Ruka. Ruka just chuckled nervously, while shrugging his shoulders.

"W-what's wrong?" Natsume asked his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her. He sighed as guilt tugged at his chest. He hated seeing her cry like this. To make it all worse, he was the one that was causing her tears.

"I-I was s-so… worried about you!" she cried out, as sobs wracked at her small body. "I-I thought y-you were.. on another m-mission!" She continued to cry into his chest. Natsume could do nothing, but try to comfort her. He rubbed her back gently and kissed the top of her head. He finally pulled away from her so that he could look into her eyes.

"Why would you think something stupid like that?" he asked suddenly, in a pathetic attempt to make her feel better. Mikan finally looked up at him, with her tear stained face.

"B-because," she sniffled quietly. "W-we sent Ruka-pyon to… go and g-get you.. and you guys d-didn't come back!" Her eyes filled with tears again. Ruka looked down at the ground, now feeling completely responsible. Hotaru was glad to hit him three times with her baka gun. The animal pheromone fell to the ground, knowing very well that he deserved it. Natsume stared at her for a moment before bringing her back into his arms. He rested his cheek on her head.

"Stop crying, you idiot," he spoke firmly, yet gently. "I'm here now, aren't I? I won't leave you again, so stop crying." Hotaru and Ruka just watched silently as Natsume continued to try and comfort the brunette. Then without a word, he scooped the girl up bridal style. Mikan's sobs finally subsided as she buried her face in Natsume's chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. Natsume began to walk off, hugging the girl tightly against him. Hotaru bent down and helped Ruka stand before the two followed their best friends hand in hand.

"You idiot!" Natsume yelled out. "You stepped on my foot again!" The two were finally able to dance together at the Alice Academy Christmas Dance. The two had been dancing to a beautiful piece, until Natsume had to ruin the moment.

"Well I'm sorry if you are such a horrible lead!" Mikan huffed, sticking her tongue out playfully. Natsume grinned and pulled her back toward him, as the music continued to play.

"I'm such an idiot," he murmured into her ear, as they danced. "I couldn't get you a gift after all." Mikan just grinned up at him and stood on tip toe so that she could kiss his cheek.

"I don't mind," she told him softly. "I'm just glad that you're here with me…" she blushed at her own words, making Natsume chuckle. Then before Mikan knew what had happened, Natsume captured her lips in his. A ton of people stopped to look at them. The Mikan Sakura Fan Club were glaring straight at Natsume, still holding the gifts that they had planned on giving to Mikan. Ruka was currently videotaping the whole thing with the new video camera that Hotaru had gotten him for Christmas. Hotaru was standing next to him, peering over his shoulder at the camera he held, making sure that her boyfriend wasn't missing a thing.

"I-I love you," Mikan whispered lovingly, once they pulled away from each other. Natsume blushed lightly, but hid it by leaning down to capture her lips again. He pulled away a moment later.

"I love you too," he whispered back, hugging her tightly. They knew at that moment that the love that they shared was the greatest gift that either could have.

I don't think I did very well on this one… Its just something that I wanted to do what with the holiday season and all… well…. I really hope that you enjoyed it!! Mikan and Natsume are really cute and I just love writing stories about them! If you guys have suggestions about a one shot I could write, I'd be happy to give it a try! So please review!

-Yuki's-lil-sis


End file.
